Vietnamese writer jailed for spreading ‘propaganda’

New York, January 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a jail sentence given to a Vietnamese journalist on charges that she spread anti-state propaganda and called today for her immediate release.

Pham Thanh Nghien, a freelance writer, was arrested during a
government crackdown on dissidents in September 2008 and originally charged
with staging a protest against Vietnamese policy on a maritime dispute with China, according
to international news reports. The prosecution changed the charges today and a
court in northern Haiphong
city sentenced her to four years imprisonment followed by three years’ house
arrest for spreading anti-state propaganda, the reports said.

The court singled out an online article in which Nghien
criticized officials for pocketing compensation intended for victims of
fishermen killed by Chinese maritime patrols in 2007, according to The
Associated Press. CPJ was unable to determine where the article was published. Nghien
was also accused of criticizing the government in interviews with foreign media
outlets during the half-day trial, which was closed to international
journalists, news reports said.

“It is deeply concerning that prosecutors used Nghien’s
articles as a pretext to imprison her for anti-government views,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ asia
program coordinator. “This conviction leaves Vietnamese journalists and
activists vulnerable to imprisonment on the basis of published work.”

Online commentator Nguyen Van Hai—who also wrote
about the Sino-Vietnamese maritime contention over which nation sovereignty
over the offshore Spratly islands, on his political blog Dieu Cay—was sentenced to two and a half years for alleged tax
evasion in 2008, according to CPJ research.